This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

Synopsis

The unit equips students with applied skills in research design, research methods and ethical research practice. Students are taught the elements of good research design, various qualitative and quantitative research methods, and the marks of ethical research practices.

Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

Knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for understanding and engaging in advanced research;

Increased understanding of the methods of communication research;

Increased understanding of approaches to planning and designing research, and to writing and editing research;

Increased knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary for independent research, enhanced capacity to formulate and research communication issues, to analyse and evaluate arguments, and to understand critical approaches to the planning, writing and editing of research;

Enhanced intellectual independence, and greater self-reliance and critical distance in academic and professional research activity;

Significantly increased capacity to design, manage, and carry out research projects.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.